10 Things You Never Knew About Catfish and the Bottlemen

Leaping out of Llandudno, Catfish and the Bottlemen are arguably the biggest new band in the

Leaping out of Llandudno, Catfish and the Bottlemen are arguably the biggest new band in the country. Priority Tickets for Catfish and the Bottlemen are available at 10am tomorrow (June 1). Search ‘O2 Priority’ for tickets.

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Leaping out of Llandudno last year, Catfish & the Bottlemen are arguably the biggest new band in the country. Here are 10 things you didn't know about the Welsh wonders.

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The band’s weird name can be attributed to a busker that frontman Van McCann saw on the streets of Sydney, Australia as a kid, when travelling with his parents. The street entertainer – real name Michael Bevan – plays beer bottles and goes by the name Catfish The Bottleman. He still plays to this day, so check him out if you’re down under – we can’t promise a cover of ‘Kathleen’, though.

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Catfish and the Bottlemen signed to Communion Records in 2013. The label is owned and run by Mumford & Sons keyboard player Ben Lovett, who was an early champion of the band. “Ben Lovett from Mumford & Sons was the first one who took a risk on us,” says McCann. “He’s the biggest rock star I’ve ever met.”

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BluesFest 2013 At The Royal Albert Hall – Day 2

Van McCann is named after 'Brown Eyed Girl' singer Van Morrison, who is his dad’s favourite artist. McCann’s own icon isn’t anyone from the music world, but boxer Muhammad Ali. “His mentality is ingrained in me,” he has said.

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When he was 16, McCann tried to give one of his demo tapes to Serge from Kasabian. Serge refused to take the tape, and McCann is still gutted. We wonder how Serge feels about it now…

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McCann is a test tube baby. To celebrate his miracle birth, his parents went travelling across Australia with their young son. Catfish & The Bottlemen's 'Fallout' "You see I was a test-tube baby, that's why nobody gets me."

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Catfish & The Bottlemen’s debut album is called ‘The Balcony’ for a number of reasons. Van penned the song ‘Cocoon’ on a balcony in New York, while the recording of the album took place when McCann was in a house with a balcony. He’s also a big fan of a TS Elliot poem called – yep, you guessed it – The Balcony.

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The teenage daughter of Trainspotting actor Ewan McGregor, Clara McGregor, took the photo on the sleeve of the band’s single ‘Hourglass’. “Clara is a class-A photographer. The sleeve is a photo of me and Ewan,” says McCann, who is now chummy with the actor after being a fan of his for years.

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McCann has previously said that he met the band’s drummer Bob Hall in A&E. “My other best buddy of all time Larry (who is our stage tech), got ran over by a van and got rushed to hospital and whilst I was waiting for him, and I met Bob!” he said.

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The band are huge fans of the Wetherspoons pub chain’s Thursday night Curry Club deal. They can also proudly tell you where to the get the best curry anywhere in the UK.

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Van McCann admits that in the early days, the band started out by simply copying their heroes, Arctic Monkeys. “I think we started by ripping them off and, when we got good, tried not to any more,” he explains.